ABSTRACT The tropical East African and Ethiopian mountains are famous for their exceptionally unique and high biodiversity. The flora on these mountains offers good examples of distinct adaptations to different altitudes as well as evolutionary differentiation, hence an ideal natural laboratory for studies on the dynamics of biodiversity. In this study the genetic diversity, evolutionary history and conservation implications of selected taxa occurring on these mountains were assessed. The obj...
ABSTRACT Aflatoxins and fumonisins are toxic food contaminants. Knowledge about status of human exposure to, and health effects of these toxins in Tanzania is inadequate. This study was conducted to assess the magnitude of dietary exposure to aflatoxin and fumonisin in young children by using biomarkers of exposure and assess the impact of the exposure on child growth. A total of 166 children were recruited at age of 6 to 14 months in three villages; Nyabula (Iringa region), Kigwa (Tabora reg...
ABSTRACT Arable land scarcity and inefficient livelihood strategies are Sub Saharan Africa phenomena posing a challenge of rural chronic poverty in the 21st Century. This study analysed the link between land access, livelihood strategies (LS) and household well-being (HWBS) in land scarce areas, Mvomero District, Tanzania. Specifically, it determined: land access and associated factors, effect of land access on LS, influence of LS on HWBS and the impacts of land access on HWBS. A cross-sectio...
ABSTRACT Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is climate-related arboviral disease of livestock and humans. Rift Valley Fever epidemics are associated with dynamics of mosquito abundance. Studies during inter-epidemic periods (IEP) where there is very little or no virus activity pose challenges including where and how to effectively sample vectors and when should the next outbreaks are expected. Entomological surveys were conducted on abundance and distribution of potential RVF vectors in Ngorongoro distr...
ABSTRACT Urban population growth has created an increase in demand for food including those of animal origin. In response to ample market, urban and peri-urban livestock farming has expanded both in the number of livestock and the number of households engaged in livestock keeping. As a result, human-animal interaction has increased and concurrent increase in manure production within the same land space has increased human-manure-environment contact. The present study was aimed at investigatin...
ABSTRACT Tanzania started a countrywide lymphatic filariasis elimination programme in 2000 adopting the mass drug administration (MDA) strategy. The drugs used for the MDA programme are a combination of ivermectin and albendazole. Clinically, the initial stages of lymphatic filariasis present as an acute febrile conditions with adenolymphangitis (ADL). Later on the disease is characterized by development of scrotal swelling (hydrocele) and swelling of the legs (lymphoedema) which gradually le...
ABSTRACT Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an enzootic/endemic zoonotic disease affecting human and animals in Africa and caused epidemic in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The RVF is caused by the Rift valley fever virus (RVFV) of the order Bunyavirales, family Phenuiviridae, genus Phlebovirus. Outbreaks of RVF have a devastating impact on human and animal health in Africa, with heavy economic loss due to the banning of livestock export and the loss of food meat, coupled with human infection. They are ofte...
ABSTRACT The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in sharing information is very important in enhancing fish farming productivity among fish farmers. However, little is known on the linkage that exists between the use of ICTs and fish farming productivity in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The main objective of this study was to assess the use of ICTs to enhance information sharing for improved fish farming productivity in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Specifical...
ABSTRACT Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in Tanzania since it was first reported in 1954. Foot-and-mouth disease is caused by FMD virus (FMDV) that presents in seven serotypes. The FMD outbreaks that occur almost each year are caused by different serotypes in the country. With its large area of 945 000 km2 and its climate which varies from tropical to temperate, large number of livestock including 25.8 million cattle (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, 2016) and high de...
ABSTRACT Sustainability of smallholder dairy and traditional cattle milk production systems in developing countries, including Tanzania, is limited by a number of constraints such as low cow productivity, shortage of feed, limited access to inputs and outputs markets and degradation of natural resources. Efforts have been made to improve the sustainability, but the improvement is hindered by lack of knowledge on how to ensure sustainability of the production systems particularly at the farm l...
ABSTRACT Grape is one of the most important economic fruits crop grown in Dodoma Region - Tanzania. However, grape production faces challenge of low yield of 5.6 t/ha compared to the established yield potential of 25 t/ha under irrigation and 17.3 t/ha under rain-fed in Tanzania. This low productivity was mainly due to rising cost of production, which is coupled with low output prices and an unreliable market. The most cost effective way to improve farm productivity is through efficient use o...
ABSTRACT This thesis is prepared according to “Publishable manuscript” format of the Sokoine University of Agriculture. It is divided into four sections; the first section presents introduction, problem statement, objectives, rationale of the study and hypothesis while the second section is a review of literature in relation to the work performed. The third section contains four manuscripts which cover the research work done, whereas the last section details overall conclusions of the stu...
ABSTRACT Climate change will affect fishery resources and challenge policy makers to develop sustainable exploitation strategies. However, the information on the impacts of climate change and variability on fishery resources is still fragmentary. The present study gives an overview of literature on the impact of climate change and variability on marine environment and fish populations with a focus on the processes that govern the response of fish to marine environment and climate change. The ...
ABSTRACT The study on which this thesis is based sought to investigate roles of different stakeholders influencing the use of mobile phones in communicating agricultural information in Tanzania. The study arose from the fact that, while information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture, farmers in Tanzania lack access to agricultural information something which greatly constrains efforts to improve agricultural development. One good thing is that, mobile phone technology which is...
ABSTRACT In Tanzania, member ownership in primary Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Societies (AMCOS) is imperative to ensure democratic sustainability. Various efforts have been made to ensure primary AMCOS are governed by democratic practices which are based on member owned practices. But such democratic sustainability is still far from being realised. The general objective of this study was to analyse member ownership factors that influence AMCS practice in Tanzania to attain democratic ...